Mass Effect: Galactic Colossus
by Guardian54
Summary: The Turian War ended with a new, hyper-advanced, galactic superpower popping up from nowhere, how will the Council Races and their characters react? Events between those of Supreme Commander: Mass Effect. Don't have better genre classification... as near-crack is not a genre. Here be lol!OP!Humanity
1. Negotiations

A/N: Am sort of stuck, should I do the Commander T'Soni back-story before or after I finish Reclaimers? If I do it before a lot of people would likely scream their heads off at me as in "How could this be?" If after, it would become too obvious who I'm talking about too quickly, and I don't want it to become evident who or what she is until the last two chapters.

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><p>Chapter 1: "Negotiations"<p>

_Palaven, 13 September, 3865_

"This is Coalition High Command to Citadel Council. If you are not ready to begin negotiations within twenty-four hours it will be assumed a declaration of additional hostilities." President William Hall barked from the holographic pedestal, one of four where the four major faction leaders of the Coalition were projected. The time for niceties was past, and they needed to know if this would be a war of conquest or peace, new ACU battle squadrons were already assembled and ready to gate at any declaration of additional hostilities.

"Citadel Council, patching the comms through." A feminine voice answered from the other side.

"Hell, it's about time." Ratheen growled irritably.

"Agreed, Prime Minister, agreed." Brackman nodded sagely to the other hologram.

An astonishingly human-like face, bar the fact that it was blue and had a head crest instead of hair, and eyebrow patches of darkened skin instead of eyebrows, appeared on the smaller holo-pedestal before them, the largest available on the Turian homeworld "This is Councillor Tevos of the Citadel Council, and these are Velarn and Armin." She motioned to the Turian and amphibian-like Salarian (if the Galactic Codex taken from the prisoners was to be believed) flanking her. "We would like to open first contact protocols and ask why you have decided to invade nearly half of Turian Hierarchy space."

"Let's make this simple." Hall growled "They attacked one of our scouting fleets. We were repairing some superficial damage to a mass relay in order to try to understand it better when the Turian Hierarchy attacked without warning or declaration of war. They then proceeded to locate and besiege one of our worlds until we mustered enough forces to drive them back. In desperation, they even employed asteroid warfare against us. You are fortunate that we have not enacted Infinite War protocols against the Turian Hierarchy, instead choosing to only eliminate military installations and minimize loss of civilian life with pinpoint strikes."

"I understand that, however interfering with inactive Primary Mass Relays is forbidden by Citadel Law…" The Salarian began in a relatively high-pitched voice.

Rhianne, eyes blazing with righteous fury after reading through the reports of the damage to Shanxi and the utter contrast with how targets had been dealt with in the attack on the Hierarchy, cut him off "We were neither aware of your existence nor your laws. If you decide to randomly attack everyone you come into contact with, I fail to see how you still survive."

"Through military—" The Turian began.

"Might?" Rhianne asked calmly, simply. "You would do well to re-think that, Councillor. If you should agree to formally begin real negotiations, we would like to invite you on a tour of the Coalition. There are no other options, other than a war of utter conquest, or, if you insist on us following the same policy you tried on Shanxi, then it will be a war of utter annihilation. We have had far more experience with that than you may think, Councillor."

"What sort of war of annihilation?" Tevos asked curiously.

"We fought among ourselves for twelve hundred of our years, equal to yours in length, over thousands of worlds before we decided enough was enough and united." Brackman stated plainly, drawing horrified gasps from the Council.

"Twelve hundred years… improbable, resources in held star systems would be unlikely to be able to sustain such duration." Armin concluded.

Hall smirked "You'd be surprised at what technology we have, now, we'd like to invite you to Earth, our homeworld, for a tour."

"You mentioned thousands of planets being contested, how many planets does the Coalition hold?" Velarn asked.

"The Aeon Illuminate, Cybran Nation and United Earth Federation each hold two thousand-plus habitable worlds in our territories, though only about half are actually inhabited." Rhianne stated, it was the truth, if all reasonably terraform-able worlds were counted. "The Seraphim Republic holds about three or four hundred habitable worlds, only a hundred are really inhabited."

"But… that's highly unlikely, we would have discovered you before…" Velarn's mandibles were flared in shock.

"We terraformed them, made them habitable, using technology, a lot of them." Ratheen stated "All of us did terraforming. Combined, our races occupy fifteen percent of the galactic plane, it would do you good to come visit Earth, the homeworld of the Humans."

"Well, it seems we will…" Tevos answered "We'd like to extend an offer for you to join the Citadel Council…"

Rhianne shook her head, being unusually forceful compared to her usual calm and peaceful self "No, let the terms and conditions come AFTER the tour, you will understand some things better then."

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><p><em>Citadel, 14 September, 3865<em>

"How did you get here so fast?" Tevos asked Elite Commander Dostya, as the woman had identified herself as.

"Quantum Jumping, instantaneous travel, though the larger the distance the more energy is required." The raven-haired Elite Commander stated simply "Now come on, let's get moving. John Shepard here will be your liaison." She pointed at the young man walking next to them.

Velarn thought of something "Will our ships escort us?"

Dostya shook her head "No, your personal guards will be coming with us though, for security's sake. A lot of the people in the UEF are pretty pissed at you reminding them of what the Infinite War was like, millions of casualties in a day…" She sighed "Well, tell your guards to come out and follow you." The three Councillors shared a look before motioning, and Turian Spec Ops, Asari Commandos and Salarian STG members emerged from the background of people to join the Councillors and the entourage of Coalition Marines. Dostya nodded approvingly "Good, we'll be taking one of our Heavy Cruisers on a direct jump to Earth, please wait in the cargo bay while we perform the jump."

"Wouldn't we need to hold onto something?" Tevos asked as they neared the capital ship, Velarn and Tevos were too busy eyeing the huge weapons barrels and turrets all over the thing to speak.

Dostya smirked as the airlock cycled "Not really." She stated as they entered the huge cargo bay. "Now that we're all in… disengage from the station, get to a safe distance, and jump!" She spoke to her comm.

"Aye, Elite Commander!" The pilot replied.

"What is this?" Velarn had finally noticed the gigantic leg they were standing next to was NOT a support pillar.

John supplied the answer as Dostya glanced at him, prompting him "That's a Harbinger Mark Five T3 Heavy Armour unit, equipped with a shield bubble generator, though the shield only really covers itself, and armed with a High Intensity Laser, which fires one point two five times per second, plus two Quantum Autoguns for fighting hordes of weak units." It had been decided to fit those instead of Heavy Electron Bolters, since the technology of the various factions wasn't as compatible, besides being made by nanolathing from mass and energy, as they'd hoped. Still, the Meson Rocket Launcher took well enough to the Titan SAB, so that was one successful example.

"How heavy is it?" Armin asked "How fast can it move?"

"That is non-classified info, so I am permitted to tell you." John paused for a moment as he downloaded the newest specs for his HUD "With all the upgrade options we've put on this, including an AA gun at the back of the turret and other improvements, it weighs over two thousand tons and can move at most around seventy meters per second, word has it a newer, better, stronger and faster version will be coming out within a few months, the Mark Five has been in production for just over ten years already, despite all the add-ons and changes, it's time to, after about ten different models of Mark Five, completely revamp it. The next one will look similar but be called the Mark Six."

"How much is a ton and how much is a meter?" Tevos asked quietly, if it was the same as the Asari units of measurement…

"Brace yourselves for this news…" The Councillors grabbed onto railings and each other at that "they are somehow the same as the Asari units of measurement."

Holding onto things and each other didn't prevent Velarn's mandibles flaring so wide he slapped the side of Armin's head when he leaned forward in shock. "Watch it, Velarn!" Armin complained.

Velarn shut his mandibles "Sorry, Armin," he turned back to the Marine "John Shepard, are you serious?"

"Yes, he is, those are the numbers right now, we expect the Mark Six to be a bit faster with full upgrade options and such." Dostya supplied helpfully.

"Incredible." Armin said as if to himself "Well, we know now that the reports of gargantuan units during the invasion of the Hierarchy were not lies."

"If they included the latest versions of Monkeylords, Galactic Colossi, Megaliths, Fatboys and Ythothas, then the reports were not fabricated." Dostya stated, just before the pilot called for the jump countdown. The Councillors and their bodyguards all grabbed onto railings at that.

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><p><em>High Orbit over Earth, 14 September, 3865<em>

In a mere moment, the quantum tunnel they'd opened to get here ejected the ship, which entered orbit smoothly. "Well, we're here, Earth, homeworld of humanity, one of the major species in the Coalition."

"Three of the four major factions are human-based, in fact." Seraphim Supreme Commander Seth-Thauum had just walked up, prompting gasps and a few tensed hands on weapons from the Citadel crew "The fourth, the Seraphim Republic, is also the youngest, formed from the Seraphim Separatists twenty Galactic Standard Years ago. I am Seraphim Republic Military Supreme Commander Seth-Thauum, most call me Seth or Seraphim SupCom, good to meet you." He extended a hand, it seemed everyone had the same gesture of courtesy for unknown reasons.

The Councillors shook his hand one by one cautiously "Anyways, we will be boarding the Restorer this way." He motioned to the Gunship in the hangar in the next room, the same hangar that ran through the ship from one side to the other and allowed it to do air staging duty. "The Restorer Tier 3 AA Gunship is an Aeon design, one of the premier air units available to ACU pilots to deploy in the field, also considered one of the best other than experimentals. Don't let the term fool you, they are 100% reliable, the term Experimental just means they are the biggest, heaviest, most expensive to field. They also tend to be slower than many other units, but that's beside the point." Seth explained, it was good intimidation value as they entered the Restorer and took seats before the craft moved off.

"You may have noticed our units tend to be rather… large." Dostya stated with a mischievous smirk.

"Why do you refer to then as Units instead of, say, aircraft?" Velarn asked, for some reason he didn't know, these humans spoke the same language as the Asari did.

"Usually, they are fielded in massed numbers and are guided only by advanced VIs, as you'd call them. The ACUs and SCUs are the controllers and are piloted. The controller is always a human, never a computer, and the units can't really network, hence we aren't at much risk of a Geth-style uprising." Dostya explained to gasps of horror.

"Besides, the Cybran Uprising already covered the Geth-style rebellion for humans." Shepard supplied.

"Anyway, carrying on, Earth, twenty years ago, looked like this from the Seraphim invasion." Seth drew up a completely lifeless, blackened ball with muddled grey oceans "Less than a decade after the Seraphim War ended, we'd collectively, as a Coalition, terraformed it to its former glory, only the old-growth forests aren't as old-growth. Everything else is back to normal." He gestured to the hologram of present-day Earth.

"Impossible, would require rapid conversion of millions of tons of toxins and hazards to healthy soil within a very short time, bio-remediation? Unlikely given scorched nature of planet at onset of terraforming…" Armin was talking very fast as if to himself.

"We have the technology to build things quickly, you may be shown how it happens, though unfortunately, to see, you must turn off any and all sensor devices you have no doubt brought with you. Otherwise, when you pass through the scanners to the observation gallery, they may fry and cook off." Dostya stated lightly.

The inside of the Restorer's cargo hold fell silent until they reached their destination, the Earth North American CGC. Unlike the other Capital Planets, which generally only had one CGC and a much larger number of Secondary Gate Complexes, Earth had a number of Central Gate Complexes and no Secondary Gate Complexes (A/N: I'm not saying SGC because someone is sure to ask if it's Stargate Command). Of course, there were still Gates in all the major settlements, but that was something else, Gate Complexes were for Commanders to operate out of. "Here's the North American CGC on Earth, now that we've arrived, we can take you to see the foundation of the Coalition of Species military. Please deactivate all sensor devices, any attempt to use them, well, they won't be good for your health." Seth stated lightly as they disembarked.

After several hallways, they entered the SCU hangars (though they were more garages). "Behold, the Support Command Unit. The logos indicate the United Earth Federation, Cybran Nation, Aeon Illuminate and Seraphim Republic respectively." John Shepard took over the tour guide job at Dostya's behest. The Council entourage was absolutely mute as they nearly cricked their heads to look up at the towering fifty-meter-tall walkers.

Still they moved on, into the ACU hangar, where the machines towered even taller. The Council delegation was now blatantly staring at the gigantic machines. "I'll do the honours." Dostya volunteered before running over to the elevator that would let her board her ACU's head, disappearing above them as the group hastily moved into a different elevator, a cargo elevator, so everyone could be accommodated. They went up to the observation deck, where the Councillors used the mounted binoculars/telescopes to look out across the desert of what was once called Nevada. The Cybran ACU Dostya borrowed for this purpose stomped out of the garage below them and raced off across the desert at high speeds (read: well over a hundred fifty kilometres an hour) before it began construction of a Monkeylord Experimental Spiderbot.

"She's drawing on the mass and energy reserves/generation of the installation to do the job." Seth told the astonished Council delegation as in just over two minutes the Monkeylord finished construction and moved off with huge strides. It fired its Heavy Microwave Laser for a few seconds at the sand, leaving a long molten stream of melted glass where its beam had swept, then casually walked over it as if it was no obstacle, not even sustaining damage from its feet stepping in the melted glass. "There you have it, a Monkeylord Experimental Spiderbot, one of the most flexible experimentals, and also the cheapest, especially in mass, it's the lightest experimental."

"But, but… this is madness, it cannot be truth!" The Salarian was spluttering.

"This is the best thing we've got to show you that you should reconsider attacking people you just met." Seth said cheerfully. "Anyways, let's head over to the CGC restaurant and get some R&R at a resort in Coalition Space before we take you guys home."

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><p>After that show of might, a rather stunned Council was taken to the CGC Café, after lunch, they were sent via Quantum Gate in a T1 Armed Truck to the planet named Paradise, famous for its resorts and the ACU Simulator battlefield of the same name. There was a minor incident at the resort though that spiced life up…<p>

"I give up." Saren Arterius face-planted on the table as he lost yet again at poker, it was effectively identical to an Asari game of the same name (only the face cards for the Asari were Maiden, Matron and Matriarch instead), but this Anderson guy just kept on kicking he and Nihlus's butts!

"Aw come on, let's try again, it's not like we're actually betting over anything…" Anderson said, shuffling the deck again.

"Besides, it's not like we're all bad at it." Nihlus smirked, prompting a glare of annoyance from Saren. "I've come close to beating Anderson a few times."

"You know, if you REALLY don't like it, we could go out and have a barbeque." Anderson stated slowly, thinking about what else they could do to pass the time while the politicians and the Coalition's leaders hammered things out. Sure, Rhianne, Brackman, Hall and Ratheen did things fast, simple, and with excellence, but the same could not be said of the Citadel Council.

"You mean roast meat and eat it while enjoying the scenery?" Saren asked hopefully, anything was better than embarrassing himself in front of all the STG members and Commandoes present.

"Sure, why not? Pack up the cards, and let's grab a barbeque from the resort's garage and get moving!" Anderson led them to the garage where they grabbed a barbeque and a T1 Truck to bring with them for a power plug-in source. Needless to say, Nihlus and Saren were a bit amazed that they brought what was effectively a mobile house with them for a barbeque, but then Anderson managed to rope everyone into it, except the Councillors that is.

They got halfway up the hills that backed the Resort, stopping next to a large roughly circular wreck with a huge gun barrel still sticking out toward the beach and the sea—a wrecked Emissary T3 Heavy Artillery Installation—and needless to say the Asari and Salarians were quite shocked at the sheer size of the thing. They'd been surprised at the sizes of the other wrecks in the area they'd visited already too. That was before the Asari found resting on the beach in the weak, watery but still warm sun (thanks to the thin cloud cover that consistently shrouded Paradise) quite enjoyable and hunkered down there. That morning, they'd gone on a cruise around the islands, quite relaxing… right up until the Boatman T1 Sea Transport sighted the looming shadow of an Ahwassa's wreckage sticking out of the water. The guests were a lot glummer after that, and the cruise had ended after that with the Boatman accelerating to its real top speed and heading back to the resort.

So while the barbeque was going happily, Saren eyed the meat Anderson was cooking with some interest "How much of that stuff did you cook into it?" He asked the Marine.

"A lot, it's supposed to be really spicy, not enough to kill you or anything, but it's spicy stuff indeed… we brought dextro-amino food too, it's over there, already finished."

A few minutes later, Anderson was sharing a drink with Nihlus, talking about how in times of old butane lighters were used, and he was drinking vodka from the large canister they'd brought it in, when an unearthly scream tore through the air. Sure, it really was unearthly as it was Turian, but… Saren had apparently decided to eat too much of his species' spice-doused food in one bite. He ran over to the container, the top opened, sitting next to Nihlus and Anderson, before falling to his knees and jamming his head in just before he pulled it out again, his fringe comically throwing up the liquid into the air as he gasped, exclaiming "This isn't—"

Anderson and Nihlus had been laughing their asses off, Anderson spraying his vodka as he spluttered, not noticing he'd just triggered the butane lighter he held in his hand. The resulting gout of flame set Saren's alcohol-doused head alight as the Turian screamed in pain. Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out almost immediately, but Saren's scales were already blackened, burnt and beginning to blister. Anderson quickly began applying medi-gel from the gauntlet he always wore, apologizing profusely. Needless to say, Nihlus had been the one to grab the fire extinguisher, and had long since stopped laughing.

Saren coughed a few more times before getting up, glaring in anger at the human, growling raspily "Thanks for the medi-gel, Anderson, though I think it's better if we don't talk for a bit." He stalked off back to his food angrily, grabbing a water bottle and draining it to attempt to quench the fire in his throat. Maybe he would mix the spiced meat with unseasoned meat from this point onwards…

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><p>After a very tense two-day stay at what was supposed to be a relaxing place, though that probably had to do with some of the scenery, the Council was about ready to leave. The fact that there was a grounded wreck of a Galaxy-class Battlecruiser (back then it was still classed Battleships) in plain sight of the resort in one direction and a Fatboy hulk in the other direction probably contributed to the unease significantly. Oh, and the smashed Emissary T3 Heavy Artillery in the hills behind the resort didn't exactly provide a comforting background, though Coalition tourists enjoyed going up to look at the wreck.<p>

"So, uh, we'd like to extend to you guys the offer to join the Citadel Council…" Tevos began on the last day of their stay, talking to the four holo-pedestals.

"We're not interested in joining your Council, thank you very much, not after the newest reports of the damage to Shanxi came in." Hall growled venomously, he could afford to be rude, the Coalition had the might to back up its demands. "We want reparations from the Turian Hierarchy and the Hierarchy alone to the sum specified in Citadel Credits."

"But…" Velarn gaped at the number that floated in front of him "That's enough to fund five, ten new colony projects. And you don't even need credits! You have your terraforming technology, don't you?"

"That is none of your business." Rhianne stated, in actual fact, it was to give the soon-to-be Independent Colonies start-up money as a gesture of goodwill, since they were banned from having Quantum Tech by the newest agreements. "We want this sum in response for a hundred and ten million dead civilians because of your military. Most of the Illuminate's commanders are seething for this unprovoked attack on the Coalition's citizenry and have sworn that should war be declared they will enact cleansing protocols against the government and military of the Turian Hierarchy." Cleansing Protocol was just below Scorched Earth, which was below Glassing, in terms of destruction wrought. "For the Hierarchy, it's a do-or-die deal, we've repaired all collateral damage to Turian civilian targets, and did our best to minimize Civilian casualties, we expect reparations for the damages you have wrought."

"If the Turian Hierarchy is unwilling to pay, the Asari Republics will help them pay up." Tevos started, trying to be the peacemaker.

Brackman replied with a smile "Thank you for your efforts, Councillor Tevos, but unfortunately this is a Hierarchy-specific matter, they and they alone must pay for their war crimes. It's not the money we actually want to have, it's the knowledge that the Turians can begin to understand that bombarding civilians comes with a price tag. We've fixed the mess, it's time for THEM, not you, to pay up. Still, we appreciate the offer, and the Asari Republics will get first dibs on any and all food and food products traded between us. Do not worry, we will not allow your markets to be flooded by nanolathed goods, for the record, food cannot be nanolathed, so you have nothing to fear there."

"WE…" Velarn deflated noticeably "we'll pay… we'll pay."

Rhianne put a smile on her beautiful face "Great, the shuttle is waiting to take you back to the Citadel right now, we hope you enjoyed your stay." The four shut off their holo-pedestals in unison.

"Let's get moving." Velarn growled in irritation.

The only people really unhappy about that were Tevos and some of the other Asari. They had really enjoyed the beach, the spa, and the other services of the resort (including the sex toy shop). Perhaps they could get a deal with the Coalition for Asari to be allowed into their space for tourism purposes? Tevos had an idea of just how many Asari couples would want to go to such resorts for their honeymoons… a LOT.

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><p>AN: Nazara (Sovereign) only increased the slight distaste Saren had for Anderson from this incident.

Next Chapter(s) will cover reactions of various people to the Coalition's existence. Yes, Mirala's stuffed bear will make an appearance again.

Since reviews prompted me to write and put this up, REVIEW!


	2. Turian Opinions

A/N: Uh, Mastermind? My version of Saren is, relatively speaking, friendlier and more fun-loving than the canon version. Sure, he's still balanced Renegade-Paragon, a bit more renegade than Shepard, but he's got his Paragon side too. Note that even if he hated the Coalition a lot, he wouldn't have a cause to single out Anderson for, without the fire scene.

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><p>Chapter 2: Turian Opinions<p>

_Citadel, 17 September, 3865_

"Spectres Saren Arterius, Nihlus Kryik, what are your opinions on the Coalition?" Armin asked, they'd finally gotten around to doing a debrief of the Spectres. Even though everyone had been sworn to secrecy, the Citadel had oddly _not_ been abuzz with speculations as to a large cruiser showing up near the station in a flash of light… No one had even reported SEEING any such flash of light.

Saren had lost his friendly face since a couple days ago, a few of his scales were still a bit scorched, that may have had something to do with it… "Their warfare capabilities are well beyond ours, especially in armoured warfare, they could probably take over the galaxy in a few days if they really wanted to with their ACUs, which they claim to have rather large numbers of."

"How were we able to land on Shanxi at all then?" Velarn asked.

"According to discussion I overheard, it seemed a 'Quantum Storm' as they called it was responsible for making Quantum travel difficult to Shanxi." Nihlus stated. He of course had no idea it only meant gating wherever they wanted was difficult, in reality, gating into a receiving gate was still doable i.e. totally safe even with a Quantum Storm around, though Hurricanes forbid even that. "Hence they could not simply send ACUs or SCUs to smash up out landing zones."

"The reports state that hundreds of thousands of vehicles were destroyed in the Battle of Shanxi as they tell us it will be called, can you report on the specifics of just what happened?" Tevos asked next "Were Experimentals, like that 'Monkeylord' they showed us, used?"

Saren spoke next on the Spectres' side "Not until near the end, after the asteroid bombardment. We angered them, if their numbers are accurate, a hundred and ten million civilians just like that, that's like a whole colony of the Hierarchy. I can understand why they only saved Experimental deployment for then, if it happened to people I was in charge of protecting, I'd bring out the biggest, strongest ass-kicking gear I had too."

Velarn frowned "You speak well of them, Saren, you're usually a lot blunter, any reasons? Did they treat their prisoners well?"

"The ones that didn't get killed trying to attack them were treated fairly well, the area was fairly temperate, but they still provided a lot of survival kits and other items for us to use." Saren stated, shrugging "And they brought over all the captured supplies they got." There had been a veritable mountain of Turian Army rations, tents, blankets, etc. in the enclosure that had been built for the POWs. "They didn't try anything nasty, treated us better than I'd expected, their weapons could have killed us all in seconds, but they let us live."

"You're being uncharacteristically nice, Saren, I mean, usually you like to make sarcastic wisecracks." Nihlus commented.

Saren snorted and shook his head "Might have to do with the fact that they minimized civilian casualties, believe me, I saw the footage, any of our Landcruisers that use Turian civilian buildings for cover, they only disabled, usually by flipping over, so I'm not as annoyed as I probably should be." He grew serious again "In all seriousness, I'm not totally hating on them because they can kick our asses into the Stone Age, in my opinion."

"Are you sure, Spectre Saren?" Armin asked.

"Were you blind? Didn't you see the size of those things they use for war? I don't just mean the big things, I mean the wreckage on the islands at Paradise as they called it!" Saren was waving his arms about to make a point, and Velarn was grinning.

"Ah, there we know, that's the Saren Arterius we all knew, not hesitant to be rude or an ass to get the job done." Saren growled in irritation at that. "Though of course you can be diplomatic, like trying to learn how to play the human card game…"

The Spectre in question snorted, while his partner rolled his eyes, Saren retorted with pointing at the burnt scales on his face and growling "Yeah, and look where that landed me."

"Well, the humans did invite us to a barbeque, and if you'd realized before that bucket was alcohol and not water you wouldn't have been the subject of said barbeque." Nihlus had a shit-eating grin on his face as Saren glared at him.

"Enough, Spectres, back on track, how effective were their weapons against our gear?" Tevos demanded.

Saren turned back to the Councillors "Their guns could cut through our vehicles like they didn't exist. The artillery, the way it spread, the damage each shell did… unbelievable, I'd never seen such a thing in my life before, I hope I never do again." He shook his head slowly "Their Aerospace-Superiority-Fighters could engage ours at literally fifty-to-one odds and win. One or two shots and our fighters would go down, it was a bloodbath, for us. And their units aren't even piloted. Their VIs are something else, though without networking they can't pull a Geth Uprising, they did mention something about a Cybran Uprising."

Nihlus produced a file on his omni-tool "They gave me a set of historical files, about the history of the Coalition, and they said I had to share it with the Council in a Council meeting, and that it would be released in the public in two days, at least a large portion of it, in film clip format."

"Let's see it then." Tevos said with some trepidation.

The narrator's feminine voice began playing "After the failures of FTL drive tests of the twenty-third century, the Early Quantum Age," Multiple starships self-destructing were shown before the camera showed one approaching a device in space "the Quantum Gate Network was established in the twenty-fourth century, heralding the first great expansion and establishment of the Prime Worlds." A polychromatic tunnel was shown "After that, countless worlds were colonized, and humanity entered a golden age of peace and prosperity." The city shown had a wet water harbour and freighters, odd… "The pace quickened, a human brain was merged for the first time with an artificial intelligence by Doctor Gustav Brackman…" it showed said doctor working away.

"Freeze playback!" Armin called, as Tevos narrowed her eyes at the image of the Doctor.

"Isn't that Doctor Brackman?" The Asari councillor questioned "Artificial intelligence? That's incredibly dangerous!"

"It's just a few programs, or so the Cybrans assured me, no real AI capabilities." Nihlus stated.

Tevos pursed her lips "Alright, continue playback…"

"The Symbionts were born… eventually, humanity's more base instincts took hold." The shot went back to the city from before, burning in the stormy weather over it "And the thread began to unravel. The Symbionts demanded independence." It shifted to show a group of bald people with blue circuits working at consoles "The Earth Empire's response was a secret Loyalty Program that pacified anyone with an AI implant."

"Pause!" Velarn shouted "That's horrific! What if the people you met with implants had been mindless drones to fool you?"

Saren snorted "Watch the rest of the video, I've seen it already, it'll explain to you what you need to know."

The playback continued, showing a huge black ship lifting off in the dusk and then heading past the camera in orbit, flying away into the darkness of space "Doctor Brackman fled with his closest Symbionts and formed the Cybran Nation, they would fight for their freedom!" The scene faded to black before a greenish planet faded in "An alien race called the Seraphim was discovered by human colonists. The Seraphim taught the settlers something called… the Way." It showed a gleaming city, presumably Seraphim, near a body of water "But despite these peaceful overtures the Seraphim were attacked by xenophobic soldiers." A white flash of nukes going off signified that, before the camera faded to a pale hand holding a sickly green, bony one "Soon, the Seraphim were no more." The camera swung to look at the face of the woman, who wore a hood over her head "The Aeon Illuminate vowed to spread the Way and cleanse the galaxy of non-believers." The woman looked up at that. The scene cut to a planet "The Earth Empire collapsed, and the galaxy fell into darkness and chaos…" the flashes of nuclear detonations heralded that, before it cut to a huge transport rising over a hill "From the ashes rose the United Earth Federation" it began dropping tanks off "An old idea made new… Unite the galaxy and restore peace, no matter the cost." The scene cut to a UEF-style ACU "Killing became more efficient, the creation of the Armoured Command Unit meant an army could be constructed anywhere at any time." The ACU, having shot down an aircraft, turned back around smoothly as it marched forward, escorted by its tanks. The camera pulled to the greenish planet, Seraphim II. "The Infinite War has dragged on for one thousand years. Trillions of live have been lost." It pulled to the reddish planet of Procyon, red and green dominating "But the actors were assembled, the final act was about to begin." It pulled to Earth, the planet they'd first been invited to visit "It was time for the Infinite War… to end."

A brief clip showed how the battles had gone to get to the next major narrative, which was a Cybran ACU watching as the huge barrel of some sort of device in the distance oriented itself before firing a huge beam skyward, red spreading through the Quantum Gate Network map, before finally the clip showed the gates imploding and them blasting outward. It showed the circuitry on the faces of the Loyalty Program-controlled Symbionts flushing red as they looked around, as if bewildered as to where they were. Brackman's hologram spoke next to his brain tank "My children are free, at last, they are free…"

After that, the clip flew over the ocean nearby and showed a gap cracking between the sky and the sea. The Rift spread, seemingly occupying no volume, merely a flat plane… that resulted in a blast of wind knocking leaves form palm trees on the beach. Then the clip showed hundreds, no, thousands, of gargantuan bombers exiting the rift, followed by transports and other aircraft, flying over the beach, the camera below turning to track them. They were shown spreading over the island, detonations beneath their flight trails lighting up the landscape. They spread over the planet, explosions trailing in their wake, destroying everything…

The screen faded, before coming in to a Seraphim SCU firing an Overcharge shot off-screen and toppling a towering, almost skeletal war machine that the camera only swung to for a moment before focusing on the SCU again, running from the vehicles chasing it "Then, in our darkest hour, the beleaguered Seraphim Separatists threw in their lot with us." A Cybran ACU appeared, firing its Heavy Microwave Laser and destroying the five vehicles chasing the SCU with the SCU's cooperation. "The Coalition, formed from the Cybran Nation, including the United Nations of Drell, effectively a protectorate, and the United Earth Federation, later incorporating the Aeon Loyalists, banded together with the Separatists and became the Coalition of Species. We beat back the Seraphim Imperium." The Yolona Oss shots that ended the Quantum Rift were shown before fragments of battles were displayed. "Took down the Order of the Illuminate." Galactic Colossi faced off against one another until a Monkeylord came in and tipped the equation. "And annihilated all we could find of the traitorous Seven Hand Node." A Megalith was brought down by combined fire from a Monkeylord and a Fatboy, with Othuum Siege Tanks (The newer models were called Heavy Armours) smashing up the base near the duelling Experimentals and a CZAR flying overhead, helping out. "The Coalition of Species had since prospered in peace and harmony, and though the Independent Colonies formed out of protest, life has generally been good."

A Cybran woman's face was shown, Dostya's, speaking with her clipped accent "The Coalition has lived in peace since 3850, fifteen years… until the Turian War broke out. We have fought among ourselves for a thousand years with weapons far more powerful than yours, weapons you are currently entirely unable to handle if the Codex on how you deal with the Batarians is correct. We shall release a video introducing ourselves across all your channels two days after the time you left our ship. You may want to use that time to stage a press release."

* * *

><p><em>Citadel, 19 September, 3865<em>

Saren walked over in the apartment he shared with Nihlus, and where Faran was currently hanging out, awaiting the bureaucracy of transferring him around in the military. Most of the former POWs were in barracks owned by C-Sec, but Saren wasn't about to let his kid get stuck in those… "Hey son, did the Council make a press release regarding the Coalition yet?"

The younger Turian shook his head where he was cutting up vegetables "Nah, probably too busy arguing among themselves about how to go about it. Uncle Nihlus is currently hanging out in the living room waiting for the video the Coalition promised."

Saren pulled his head out from the fridge with, unsurprisingly, a can of beer, well, it was surprising a Spectre should do that, but that was beside the point, he was male, and waiting for a good show, ergo, a can of beer "Come watch with us, Faran."

"Sure Dad, just about finished the cutting anyways… there." The younger Turian took off his apron and hung it on the rack before leaving the kitchen with his father, accepting a can of beer from Saren.

"You think they've smartened up enough to make the press release yet?" Nihlus asked.

Saren shrugged "Don't know, don't really care, we can expect a good show though…" Faran chuckled before they feel silent at what the TV said next.

"The Citadel Council will interrupt this program with a very important announcement—" The announcer was cut off right on time according to Saren's watch.

"Space held such high hopes for humanity… a fresh start, a chance to let old grievances wither and die… The Quantum Gate Network let humanity push deeper and deeper into space. Countless worlds were colonized…" The video continued from there, much of it repeating what the two Spectres and Faran already knew, though it showed more of how tall the machines were by putting them near trees or buildings, showing the puny floors compared to each towering unit in action.

* * *

><p><em>Citadel, 19 September, 3865<em>

Garrus Vakarian whistled as he looked at the towering units blow gigantic craters in the ground as they fired on each other, before listening to the commentary, chewing his dinner absently at his C-Sec cubicle, apparently, this signal had simply overwhelmed all communications channels, seeing as how every screen he saw was playing it. He noted how the humans, especially the females, were extremely similar to Asari, except they had hair…

At the end of the jaw-dropping video, the announcer seemed rather flustered. "The Citadel Council would like to announce the discovery of a new Galactic Superpower, the Coalition of Species, in the Galactic Southwest. They have agreed to peace, and delegates will arrive in a few days at the Citadel to discuss possibilities of trading agreements and such."

Garrus felt his gut clench, if this meant what he thought it would mean… the excited babbling by commentators after the announcement about possible ACU attacks or land units almost sealed the deal. Everyone in the office grabbed their riot shields and helmets off the cubicle racks and rushed outside to try to calm down the now boiling crowds. I really wish I hadn't complained today would be too boring… he thought as he ran outside with his newest partner, a Turian by the name of Lantar Sidonis who'd been with the soldiers on the Citadel and had chosen to volunteer with C-Sec for something to do while they were there.

This was going to be a long day, a very long day… Garrus decided as he helped try to stem the stampede of panicked civilians. The fact that the Volus among them were running with the crowd and babbling about business opportunities and the Hanar present were eagerly discussing spreading the "Enkindlers' Word" to the humans, especially the Aeon, wasn't helping his mood today.

The sheer size of the units shown in the Coalition video was also worrying, did the Coalition really field such gigantic war machines? What technology would they use for the purpose of fielding them? Garrus pushed that aside for now, just as he was using his riot shield to push aside a Hanar trying to preach to him about the Enkindlers. It was reminding him of his lunch yesterday, some sort of jellyfish native to Palaven but bred in tanks on the Citadel for the restaurants. Of course, the fact that he wanted to bite its head off for its translator's monotonous babbling about teaching the Coalition (and him) of the Enkindlers wasn't helping the mental comparison.

* * *

><p><em>Citadel, 19 September, 3865<em>

Garrus gaped at his partner over dinner, it had taken the better part of the afternoon to calm down the crowds "You're telling me you actually fought those things?"

Sidonis shrugged "Why do you think all us troops are on the Citadel? It's not just fear of an attack by the Coalition, we were retrieved from Shanxi, and sworn to secrecy."

Garrus nodded "So what can you tell me about them?"

Sidonis finished his food and pushed his plate away "Well, I was an APC driver, had the privilege of ferrying Spectres Saren Arterius and Nihlus Kryik around for a while…"

Garrus snorted derisively "Spectres… the idea of people above the law is trouble, I tell you."

Sidonis shrugged again "Can't say I disagree, well, we were in a column of vehicles at the time, and these huge-ass artillery shells RAINED down on us. We ran off the road trying to get away, but a detonation I think… ten, twenty meters or so behind us threw us end over end, it was madness, some sort of split-shell artillery that was pounding us absolutely FLAT, we didn't stand a chance, the nearest lever we could find was a Landcruiser's flung-away turret, with sheared-off half-bodies still inside… scariest thing of my life." Sidonis shivered a little.

Garrus was leaning forward with interest "If they had that sort of weapon, why didn't they use it when you guys were landing?"

"Well, the shit hadn't hit the fan then. A while before those artillery guns started firing, I saw an asteroid impact far to our north… later on I found we'd blasted a city, killing a hundred and ten million civilians, and that was why they decided to bring out the big guns on us and stop toying around." Sidonis shook his head slowly "After they took us prisoner, they gave us rations and supplies, all sorts of things, almost like a supply depot…that's a lot nicer than I would have been if they'd just killed a hundred and ten million civilians in one shot."

"And now we saw that video, we know how they did what they did…" Garrus said, slumping back at the revelation. "It's a miracle they put the final death count ratio at over three to one Coalition vs. Turian… I wouldn't have been so nice either."

Sidonis stood up, and Garrus, his senior, did the same "No shit, come on, let's get back to work and file a couple more reports before the shift's over." The lower-ranked Turian suggested. Garrus nodded, and the two moved off.

* * *

><p>AN: I actually put up a chapter under 3500 words! NOOOOO!

I think the Asari chapter will be a lot longer, agree?


	3. Asari Thoughts

A/N: If you want to hear many Turians babbling on about how huge the Coalition's war machines looked compared to the buildings/trees near them, then sorry I didn't do that, too boring for everyone to babble the same shit. Also, people are growing tired of it.

XX

Chapter 3: Asari Thoughts

_Serrice University, Thessia, 19 September, 3865_

Liara T'Soni was busy, very busy, analysing the latest artefact she'd located and retrieved, hoping it would yield some clue as to her research topic. She was examining it under an electron microscope when one of her associates popped her head over the cubicle divider "Liara, you've got to see this! The Citadel and the Terminus aren't the sole galactic superpowers anymore!" the other Asari babbled excitedly, the background noise in the equipment management room next to the lab had gone up significantly with all the excited and in some cases frightened voices.

Liara never took her eyes off her screen, growling in frustration as she moved the damned scanner around "What is it? I'm trying to get this to just the right angle to see what the hell THAT" She pointed to a half-hidden, tiny inscription on one side of the artefact, half-hidden by a protrusion on its surface "is. Unless we've discovered the Prothean Empire or something, I'm too busy right now, sorry."

The other Asari rolled her eyes, Liara had always been ultra-dedicated to her work. Most Maiden stage Asari had at least had dating experience before they turned forty, Liara, on the other hand, was a hundred and four year old virgin. The attempts by her coworkers to get her to loosen up and "go out and get laid" had thus far been unsuccessful "Liara, we've just discovered a new faction called the Coalition of Species in the galactic southeast. They overran half the Turian Hierarchy within a single day and forced the Council to the negotiating table. That says something."

"That's my mother's line of work, not mine." Liara stated, not knowing why there was a small spark of joy that blossomed inside her at the news. She pushed it aside, it didn't matter "I'm more interested if they have any archaeological stuff in their region of space that could point me on my way…" She frowned and leaned closer to the electron microscope readout, then brought up a galaxy map "This thing says to go to this uncharted planet first… then to Therum once we've searched there in case we find nothing." She looked up to her colleague "I'm going to be applying for an expedition, got any suggestions for what I should do before that?"

Her colleague scratched her fringe "Uh, my sister, who was one of the Commandos with the Council tour party, said the Coalition has really nice spas…"

Liara shook her head "I need to get something done though, I can't afford the relaxation… there's more important things to do."

Her coworkers sighed nearly collectively. Sure, Liara was an efficient and quiet worker, and could come up with all sorts of newfangled ideas on a moment's notice, but most Asari Maidens who had seen her were of the opinion that she should be classed as a Matron already, like most of her coworkers. According to them, she was shaming the Maiden classification. The problem was that she wasn't inclined toward having children, and was generally blunt enough in her communication to most likely drive away dates, not that they'd ever heard of her going out with anyone.

"Whatever, on my next vacation, I'm going to one of those Coalition worlds that have been opened to tourism."

Liara shrugged "well that's nice to hear, I need to go check on the other scans and their results… I think we just proved our latest hypothesis." She grinned broadly, as the other workers all came over to her console. The analysis room was abuzz with excitement again, and things went back to normal.

One thing was shocking though, at least to Liara. That night, for the first time ever in her life, she had a dream about being in private with someone. For some reason, the person bore a suspicious resemblance to the man shown guiding the Council around on the newsreel. It was as if she knew every bit of what he'd look like. When she woke up however, she didn't remember nearly as much as she would have liked to. It was almost like an omen of some sort to her… truly frightening.

XX

_Terminus Systems, 20 September, 3865_

Mirala was once again sitting in a rather seedy bar at some random space station somewhere in the Terminus. Even she herself thought of it as such. It was an interesting announcement, one that had all the usual robberies on this sort of station at a total halt. The newsreel on the new species in question, the humans in particular, revealed astonishing physical similarity to Asari. It was almost like a dual-gendered version of the Asari species, minus the blue/purple pigmentation of Asari skin.

The darker part of her wondered what a human's life would taste like as she assimilated his or her knowledge, devoured his or her soul… That was before she squashed that corner of her mind back into whatever _hole_ it had crawled out of. The fact that Ardat-Yakshi killed by sex made her smile slightly at the pun before she finished her drink and went back to her refuelled ship.

While on the next lonely freight run, she was struck with a sudden realization on watching the recorded newsreel again. Perhaps this was the outside support she needed to duel the Order of the Justicar and bring them to justice. If only she could establish contact with them, things would be so much simpler. Still, she didn't feel ready for the fight yet, she needed to work on her biotics more. Killing with sex might be a vibrant rush of pleasure that she hungered for, but it was bad for her biotics. She needed to try to reach her limits and stretch them out from how much they'd tightened on her since her first lover, the only lover she'd actually loved, died, murdered by her condition. That was an old scar, but she still resented not having been diagnosed beforehand. Ardat-Yakshi were removed from society as soon as they were diagnosed, so it was only legend that they could run away somewhere and have successful long-term relationships. Still, despite it being fiction, Mirala had a lot of it on her computers, and liked reading them. Despite the fact that it hurt to think of what could have been, she read them, it helped remind her of what she fought for.

It almost reminded her as much as the dull brown, soulless stuffed toy sitting on the top shelf of her cabinet. The old mud was still caked along one side of the little toy dropped so long ago by a fleeing child, and it would stay there forever, if she had anything to say about it. The beady plastic eyes stared hollowly out from a perpetually-smiling face, a symbol of a child's innocence long gone from those survivors of the attack. She'd heard Aria had survived the second attack, and become pirate queen of Omega in recent years, but those were but rumours, she hadn't checked on them yet. After all, Omega brought back too many bad memories to her.

Mirala was sitting still in her pilot's chair, almost as still as the old toy. Her mind was running through the possibilities of negotiating something with the Coalition… and how badly it might go. It could potentially work to her favour, but that was for another day. She needed to know what to attack first after all.

XX

_Thessia, 20 September, 3865_

"So how was the Coalition Shiala?" Benezia asked her friend.

The Matron thought for a moment "Very enjoyable, Matriarch, except for the towering wrecks of engines of destruction all over the resort area. It was amazing that they considered the grounded hull of a 'Galaxy-class Battlecruiser' as they called it a tourist attraction. The ship was amazingly durable even in its destroyed state, and the gun barrels were tall enough for several people to stand in… truly frightening. Still, it wasn't as jaw-dropping as the Fatboy as they called it, a glorified land battleship of sorts, or the huge gun in the hills behind the resort, an 'Emissary T3 Heavy Artillery'."

Her teacher rolled her eyes, sighing "How many times have I told you to just call me Benezia? 'Matriarch' makes me feel old." She didn't physically appear aged, despite being about 1500 years old (A/N: I'm explaining Benezia's old-ish appearance in ME 1 as a side-effect of indoctrination that she soon recovered from, see the other stories.) "That aside, this is a very interesting development, tell me, did you find the humans attractive?" She turned with a knowing smirk.

Shiala was caught off-guard "Matriarch?"

"I'm guessing yes, unsurprising, considering just how similar they look to us. It is a coincidence of galactic proportions, is it not? I wonder, perhaps it is not so much a coincidence after all. You know as well as I do that the ancestors of the Asari were rumoured to have come to Thessia from the heavens, and The Founder's Monuments show it. Perhaps the humans are a sister race of sorts to us?"

Shiala frowned as they walked through the garden "An interesting hypothesis, Benezia. Though if they are a sister race to us, they appear far more warlike. Our soldiers can't really deal with a stand-up war, not like what the Coalition's units can pull off, according to what we saw."

"Agreed, which is why I hope we never go to war. Unless we are willing to employ extreme tactics against our own planets, we would not have a real chance against a massed offensive of those Armoured Command Units."

Shiala agreed "No we wouldn't. What about the Cybran Nation's implants? How will the Council deal with that?"

Benezia shrugged "They'll probably let it pass, they can't afford angering the Coalition too badly if we want friendly relations. Besides, the Cybrans say there are no independent AI minds in their Nation anymore, and the other factions are okay with it. If the Aeon, who were focused on cleansing the Cybrans not half a century ago, are okay with it now, I think we can make exceptions. What I'm worried about is the reaction of the Quarians, they will most likely see the Cybrans as effectively the Geth, since they were first created to function as workers for the 'betterment of society'." They stood next to a fountain now, watching the water glitter in the sun.

"Indeed, Matriarch, that might be a bit of a problem." Shiala paused before starting a new train of thought "they will tilt the entire galactic balance of power…"

"Yes, I feel the coming of the Coalition will bring about changes that long since needed to be made. I also have a feeling that it will bring great happiness to those close to me."

"Are you including Rila and Falere I that group?" Shiala asked cautiously, she had been Benezia's friend for many centuries, and had known when all three of her daughters with Samara had been born. In fact, back then she'd had a bit of a crush on Benezia, but that passed.

Benezia nodded "Yes, even Mirala will find peace, or so I feel. As for Liara, she'll break free of the shell she's built around herself, I believe. Time will tell, my friend, time will tell…"

XX

A/N: Einstein Quote from Red Alert 1 start cinematic right there, Heh. She's almost old enough to be a contemporary of Einstein anyhow.

XX

_Somewhere in Council Space, 20 September, 3865_

Samara had just finished tearing a bunch of mercs a new asshole when she heard all the news and the latest updates on the Coalition situation. She mostly ignored it, the social security and stability the Coalition boasted of made it less suitable for Justicar pursuits than Council Space, so she made a note that she didn't need to go there, at least, not anytime soon. Sadly, her next assignment was to go to a spa in the Coalition, relax, and observe, as if she was a spy. She was actually ordered not to kill anyone for the smaller crimes. Samara sighed, she REALLY did NOT enjoy taking breaks… but for the Order, she would take one.

XX

_Citadel, 20 September, 3865_

Tevos was thinking about the Coalition of Species, it was incredibly attractive to the typical Asari. They were in extensive politics among the factions, despite presenting an absolutely solid front to everyone else and having absolute solidarity whenever any member was under attack. They economy was, if the nanolathing work was indicative, monstrous at least, and could probably multiply exponentially and overrun the galaxy within weeks if desired, but they didn't. It was an interesting political tool, keeping other powers out there to maintain solidarity. The amount of cultural momentum was astounding, though they were mostly keeping it quiet simply because "Our video games and books might give the mad scientists among you stupid ideas." Then they'd muttered something about Tiberium or something and possible alternate string realities.

Interestingly, they still had ancient devices such as paper books, though the reasoning behind that was partly proved by the fact that many libraries in the Turian Hierarchy had to reboot their databanks from others. All the EMPs that came with ACU warfare being too tough for the soft civilian electronics, Coalition electronics, even for civvies, would not have felt a thing. The Coalition also had no personal transports in their cities, only trucks and buses, because of "Evac Procedures" though why they would require evac procedures was a secret until the horrifying extent of the "Infinite War" was unveiled.

Of course, that was rather terrifying, as was the knowledge that the Coalition military could probably conquer the galaxy within a week. Even now plans were being rushed into motion to begin preparing to upgrade all the museum pieces the Council Fleets had into proper warships…

Entertainment with the Coalition was another topic many young Asari were abuzz with in the past day. They seemed to have absolutely EVERYTHING… to an astounding extent. Copyright protection tech was so prevalent there and powerful enough that pirating was effectively not worth the effort… It was like a utopia, except the wars of their past and probably the future. Tevos was thankful that they had low immigration/emigration quotas, other than the refugee worlds they planned on setting up. If they didn't limit immigration/emigration, everyone would be clamouring to get in.

The humans, three factions of the four main players in the Coalition , were also stunningly similar to Asari, especially the females. Tevos could foresee that immigration could focus a lot on Asari because of the similarity between the species, and most emigrants would probably be because they were in a relationship with an Asari. Perhaps they should get geneticists to compare the two species or something…

Actually, she suddenly felt that was a bad idea, she had no clue why, but it just gave her a sense of foreboding that she followed.

XX

_Reach, 20 September, 3865_

Deep under the surface of Reach, an ancient pink crystal sighed in relief as its psychic influence, which spanned effectively the whole galaxy after having so long to spread through the stars in the parallel plane all psychics operated in (ergo FTL ability), turned away the numerous Asari wondering about their similarities. The secret had to stay secret until the time was right…

XX

A/N: I know, pathetically even shorter, again, but it doesn't take as much space as you'd think to cover the main characters.


	4. Sides of a Genophage

A/N: Mastermind4892, I actually originally HAD a closer description of the dream sequence, but then I thought it was too weird for people who technically didn't know each other to share such an experience, ergo… I deleted it.

Unfortunately as contact with the Migrant Fleet will be a relatively hesitant affair on all sides it will be a bit later in time and thus in chapters. Remember though, I don't abandon stories.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Sides of a Genophage<p>

_Sur'Kesh (Salarian Homeworld), 20 September, 3865_

The table top cracked under a white and green armoured fist "I'm demanding absolute and full information on the Genophage." Grand Crusader Ariel Williams growled menacingly, optics glowing a bright green and in slits, staring down the Dalatrasses (matriarchs) across from her. "Krogan population figures before and after, territory, culture, every piece of data you've got, I will have." Ariel snarled, aware of the ATG members behind her that she could dispatch with one sweeping volley of the Gauss LMG on her back. It had UEF design principles used, she much preferred the Disruptor Assault Rifles or High-Powered Laser Sniper Rifles of Aeon design principles, but she had to admit that it was alright. The Laser Battle Rifle package the Cybran Nation had created was in her opinion better though, quite ingenious at packing maximum functionality, power and firing rate into a single weapon.

As for how the negotiations had gotten to this point, well… It began when Ariel had discovered for herself the limited Genophage data the Salarians had given the Coalition. It had been temporarily overlooked in the need for urgent establishment of negotiations, however tenuous, to prevent the Coalition citizenry from demanding that they go on the warpath. That would be bad, as it was predicted the Coalition would not last another thirty years without an external power to stabilize it and turn its focus outward. Ariel had red-flagged the Genophage and informed the other top-level commanders and the leaders of the four main factions she'd have to investigate further. A bit of digging revealed a deep nonchalance about the Genophage among the Salarians and it was quickly determined that more information was a must if any ties with the Salarians were to be established. After being blockaded for a few hours, Ariel had decided that gunboat diplomacy was needed.

She pulled her fist out of the dent she'd left in the bullet-proof (Citadel standards) table and glared expectantly at the Salarian Union's leaders. For one, she was very glad that Rhiza had arrived in orbit to coordinate any necessary operations, as this was not going very well…

"We are afraid we cannot offer you much, Grand Crusader, we created the Genophage to save the galaxy from the Krogan, to save the Krogan from the galaxy. It was either that or a war of annihilation." One of them, Ariel remembered which, said with a helpless and rather uncaring shrug.

"I almost believe your claim of saving the galaxy and Krogan from one another, but from the data we have the Krogan were given advanced technology before their society was ready. You could have saved the Krogan from the galaxy by letting them develop on their own."

Another answered with "We elevated the Krogan for the Rachni Wars, we were losing, and they were the only sentients strong enough and able to replenish their numbers quickly."

Ariel sneered "And you say you cannot offer me much data, you brought them to the stars and then when they, who were basically your slaves, tried to disobey you, you basically neutered them. If I felt nice about it I might need to ask someone to set up a galactic tribunal and put all y'all on charges of crimes against sentience. Do not think that we're THAT stupid, Dalatrasses, we've looked for the newest Genophage markers. What do you think we found? We found a monument to all your sins. They are no older than, on the outside, twenty years, well within your lifetimes." Salarians did live on average about 45 to 50 human years…

"Have care, Grand Crusader." One of the matriarchs' patience was apparently wearing thin "You cannot simply pull out a government and put it on court-martial like a group of soldiers."

Ariel sniffed haughtily "You're right, I can't, which is why I'm asking nicely for full disclosure."

"And why would we give you full disclosure?" One of the Union members asked.

"I know enough about how your neutering of the Krogan went, the moment it goes over the Extranet in the Coalition, or even just the Cybran Network, if we do our usual full, unbiased disclosure instead of trying to pretty genocide up, the citizenry will be on the warpath. With the mismanagement of the Batarian problem you and your precious Citadel have been letting simmer for years, I think it's time that you guys were taught a lesson or two. Yes, I know, I'm threatening war at least on behalf of the Aeon Illuminate," she had authorization from Princess Rhianne to use any means short of actual violence to get the data "but what can you do about it? Just hand over the information, and we can continue discussions of trade as if this affair never happened."

"Do you really expect the Salarian Union to forget a casual threat of war?" Someone asked sceptically.

Ariel shrugged "I said the CITIZENRY will be on the warpath, if a few billion Coalition citizens all acquire gear and then book flights to your space, that's not our problem. The Coalition doesn't want a war, but its citizens might want to teach you guys some first-hand lessons on genocide and why it is bad. For the record, if you try anything on us like that Genophage… you can guess. About the Rachni Wars, you people need a severe and immediate lesson on the idea of expendable people. The Quarians had the Geth, the Earth Empire had the Symbionts aka Cybrans. Having expendable people is quite simply a stupid idea and you're lucky it's not a Cybran representative here right now." Ariel smiled sweetly, Hannah Shepard would probably have torn these assholes a lot of new ones before forcing completely lopsided trade "agreements" on them and left them to simmer and despair. Of course, a smash-down would be due shortly after that, but the Coalition's rate of progress outstripped even the Salarians, ergo it wouldn't be too costly to teach them the lessons they needed to learn before they did something dumb that could endanger all sentience. "Anyways, let's get back to the statistics we're asking for, I don't think they're that unreasonable, right? After we get them, we can talk more about trade deals. Remember, as an Aeon I'm being softer on you than the others would have been, so you should be grateful for that."

Someone snorted "Grateful for threats of war?"

Ariel kept smirking "A UEF representative would have despised your initial enslaving of the Krogan and later cleansing of them. A Cybran would have lashed out at the idea of expendable people. A Seraphim Republic person would be appalled by elevating a species with technology they aren't ready for simply for war. They sent me, from the Aeon Illuminate, so that negotiations could be smoother… uh, I'll fix the table now, smooth things over, right?" She repaired the table top with her engineering suite, and then sighed as the Dalatrasses blinked collectively at her. If that bit of humour was lost on this lot, this was going to be a LONG day… or several.

* * *

><p><em>Approaching Citadel, 20 September, 3865<em>

Urdnot Wrex was reading through the history files of the Coalition, the ones that had been made available over the Extranet at least. The old Krogan was impressed, to say the least. The factions of the Coalition had been fighting incessantly for twelve hundred years, almost as long as he'd lived, and developed titanic, powerful war machines and a system of blitzkrieg warfare that put everyone else to utter shame. Wrex knew how slowly Council technologies had progressed, sure, cutting-edge technologies were much better than when he'd first started his mercenary career, but typical weapons hadn't changed all that much from the old days.

The Coalition on the other hand had changed their technologies for over a thousand years faster than the eye could follow. Wrex could admire that. He could also admire the results, such as the videos of Coalition units at war, clashing over many fronts at once… The infantry equipment was also a bit absurdly overpowered, only a few bolts or rounds were needed to bore through the best infantry armour and shields Citadel Space had to offer, and their armour… it would be nice if he got to use that sometime.

Wrex snorted derisively to himself at that, _yeah, like that would ever happen._ The old mercenary thought, sitting in the passenger ship that ran the line to the Citadel. He was ignored, mostly because the fellow passengers were a bit frightened by his bulk, large even for a Krogan, and scars.

* * *

><p><em>Omega, 20 September, 3865<em>

Mordin Solus stirred his coffee (Asari drink, popular with older Salarians) with one hand while browsing the videos that had surfaced on the extranet after only a day of formal contact with the Coalition of Species with the other. "Interesting, indeed, alarming degree of military technology displayed, could overrun galaxy, choose not to, wise, no wish to devolve to Krogan-style infighting. Could use such wisdom in other races of galaxy, pity, no matter, back to work."

Two seconds later Mordin Solus did perhaps one of the first double-takes of his life "Cybernetic implants? Complete integration yet impossible to hack? Incredible… note to self: Investigate further after today's shift over." Over the next few days, the old Salarian would be surprised many times, but that is a trivial fact.

* * *

><p><em>Citadel, 20 September, 3865<em>

Wrex was beginning to grow tired of hearing about the Coalition at every turn he made, even when he was biting into a (very large) burger at a fast-food place (of Asari origins) he liked to visit, people were talking about it. Yeah, they were the newest, hottest thing on the block and were not the irritants the Batarians were, at least, didn't act that way, and they were smart enough to keep external powers around to maintain internal solidarity…

Wrex's trains of thought experienced a sudden pile-up as his red eyes widened at the thought, three-fingered, clawed hands moving down slightly, not noticing the fact that a piece of lettuce feel from between his thin lips as the burger left his mouth after a chomp. He put it down before beginning to chew thoughtfully. Maybe if the Krogan were united and stood together they could actually have a good chance of surviving despite the ravages of the Genophage… he had thought something similar when he was young, but then given up on it, now he was scaling up the idea… a lot.

A few minutes later, after finishing his burger and fries, the patrons of the fast-food joint bore witness to an unusual sight: a Krogan scribbling ideas down on a notepad furiously with a thoughtful expression on his face as he sat at his table. No one commented though, seeing the scars the Krogan bore and his impressive array of guns. The fact that the male was mumbling to himself didn't help his approachability or the impression everyone else had of his sanity…or possible lack thereof.

* * *

><p><em>Citadel, 20 September, 3865<em>

Armin was frowning at the STG hologram he was talking to over a secure channel "STILL nothing?"

The other Salarian shook his head "No sir, we haven't been able to detect even the slimmest of cracks in their networking capabilities."

Armin sighed "I shouldn't be surprised, after all, they've either been fighting people who can attack with only their minds for twelve hundred years or are people who are able to do so. Obviously their electronic security will be far better than anything we might have… Have you got anything from these 'Independent Colonies' though?"

"They're pretty happy to get Mass effect technology, even though they knew the price for leaving the Coalition was reversion to a relatively low tech level. The Coalition still ran ferries and such between them, that won't be needed anymore, we can get a lot of information out of casual talk on shuttles and the like, and a lot of the ICs' population still remembers how the wars worked, that's a treasure trove of information. None of its' classified per se but it's probably the best we've got or are going to get for a long time."

"Good, keep on obtaining as much information as you can. A power that could overrun the galaxy within a week… not even the Krogan had anywhere near that sort of capability. They are extremely dangerous… but a least they're wise about it."

"Let us hope… and pray that they remain wise." The STG head replied.

Armin nodded curtly "Agreed."

* * *

><p><em>High Orbit over Sur'Kesh (Salarian Homeworld), 20 September, 3865<em>

Avatar of War Rhiza recoiled slightly from her helmet speakers suddenly blaring Hannah Shepard and Elite Commander Dostya's furious voices. "THEY WHAT?"

"Can you guys be a bit quieter? I'm part of the channel too and you are rather loud…" Rhiza asked.

Dostya sighed "Certainly, Avatar of War, now, the problem remains what we will do regarding the data we have on the Genophage. Usual principles of full disclosure don't seem to be a very good option unless we strike up an agreement with the Salarians to not let human passengers anywhere near their core worlds. We all know that the available 'make your own gun' recipes out there, even though they won't do crap on a Coalition vehicle, unit, or soldier, are enough to deal some serious damage to anything the Citadel has short of an APC. If a couple hundred million humans and Seraphim decide to pull a Crusade/Jihad, we can't afford putting all of them down, but it wouldn't be good for us if our main rival power goes down, we need a competitor to hold together after all."

Hannah nodded "Agreed, which is why we're going to present the Krogan Rebellions data first, then put the Genophage data out there at the very end of the long report on the Rebellions, after the statistics on civilian deaths on the Council's side." They all looked rather uneasy at that "I hate the idea as much as you guys do, but it's the best way to do our full disclosure protocols and not risk a mass armed exodus into Salarian space."

"Alright, we can do that, the Genophage only really cut the reproduction rate and organization of the Krogan, right? Not direct plague-style bio-weapon?" Rhiza asked, and Hannah nodded "Then excellent, we will be able to justify presenting the data in such a manner."

Hannah asked a question she'd been curious about for a while "Alright, so next topic, how badly have our fleets been raping the Batarian Syndicates' privateers?"

Dostya smirked viciously "It won't be long until they don't have enough pirates left according to current projections, unless they pass off their military as pirates, in which case we can ACU Blitz them if need be. We only really have to have one rival power after all… though it doesn't hurt much to have more."

* * *

><p>AN: Short as hell but explores two more races' reactions at contact. I will only talk about the main story species, so don't expect something about the Hanar, Drell, Elcor, etc. As those are already covered enough in my other fics for the small roles they have, the Quarians are gonna be next in this fic.

Disappointed at the relative lack of reviews on my PROL fic, Chapter 4 contains a few important notes to readers. Let me repeat the most important one: Chapter 40 of Reclaimers currently has an ETA somewhere in SEPTEMBER because I am not legal age to be reading lemons yet, let alone writing them. The gist if it? My computer is now right next to the family scanner/printer therefore my parents spent almost all my computer time standing 60 cm from me, not a good thing for someone who wants to produce lemons worth reading (please remember later to keep keyboards clean while reading, thank you).

And yes Wrex was at the same fast-food place Thel Vadam later visited during Ch 39 of Reclaimers.

REVIEW!


	5. Salvation Denied

A/N: I hate people who are too weak to leave a signed review with a username (and don't at least say something about why they don't like it). If you don't like the premise of overwhelming power and everyone being Mary Sue, keep in mind what 1200 years of non-stop war does to people. They are effectively completely desensitized and learnt to treat wreckage of war as natural (I can see them going to Thessia on a guided tour though: "Where are all the wrecks? The overturned, slagged tank hulls… sunken warships fully exposed only at low tide… did you guys clean up on purpose?")

About Tali's Pilgrimage, she hadn't been out for very long in ME 1, so I'm saying she's not gone yet. Also, to Spacebar, thank you for your help, it's been very useful when it came to planning my work. However, if you follow this story too, please note that if you have inertial manipulation hardware, gravity weapons… really don't do much unless they're rift-based like most Seraphim bombs. Think about it, if you're tearing at me with a force of 10,000 g's in both directions total (5000 one way, 5000 the other), and my ship's threat computers make each half of the ship weigh 1 gram, then even with that sort of gravity warping and acceleration that's only how many Newtons of stress on the hull and fields? 100 Newtons (with 1 g being 10m/s squared as opposed to 9.8 on Earth), that's less than the force you take to get walking, practically. It breaks nothing. About Vorlon guns… I feel sorry for them if that's their only weapon, the reason Coalition antimatter weapons (UEF-model ACUs and Mavors) are so "weak" is because making it is for some reason much harder for nanolathes than normal matter, and yes that's part of why normal matter is more common, it was easier to produce in the Big Bang. Containment is expensive, especially as the antimatter is held inside of a larger amount of normal matter so that no matter where it is, it can penetrate non-fielded armour AND provide a big boom (with the normal matter part of the round) even if it's in hard vacuum where there's no other matter to react with. As long as anti-positrons don't penetrate into actual matter they will not do much…

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Salvation Denied<p>

_Live-Ship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, 21 September, 3865_

"Are these reports confirmed?" Rael'Zorah asked Han'Gerrel with a frown, since it wasn't exactly as believable as certain other things (i.e. the Citadel Races disliking Quarians, his kind needing suits, etc.).

"Yes, Rael, they're serious." Zaal'Koris, ever the annoying guy, butted in.

Rael rolled his eyes "I just wondered why a power able to stomp the Turian Hierarchy into the ground within two days would want to establish relations with us specifically."

"That is not as important as actually establishing contact, if they are friendly then that will be excellent for us." Shala'Raan cut in "Rael, perhaps their desire to establish contact has to do with their own history? A twelve hundred year TOTAL war makes our disagreements with the Geth utterly pale in comparison."

"They may also have some interesting technology that will help us deal with the Geth problem, or even offer military aid, it is not too much to hope, after all." Daro'Xen supplied.

"If they are as the Council transmission said, aggressively demanding contact with us through making the Council send us that message then we should agree to meet in a neutral location near their space first before anything much more." Zaal'Koris stated.

Han'Gerrel turned his head slowly to stare at the other man, blinking slowly in the sudden silence in the Admiralty Board's meeting room "Did you actually say something that made SENSE?"

Zaal'Koris sighed and visor-palmed in irritation "Believe it or not, I got on this board for a reason… I also think we should communicate with them via transmission before doing much else. Any objections?"

After they all shrugged agreement, Shala nodded "Then it is settled, now, who'll talk to them first?"

"I'll take the Alarei if no one else objects…" Rael stated.

"Are you seriously suggesting we take the eighth most powerful warship in the fleet after the Seven Dreadnoughts to negotiate?" Han'Gerrel asked his old friend, then paused "Then again, that's not such a bad idea after all…"

* * *

><p><em>Near Citadel, 23 September, 3865<em>

"Are you sure about this?" Hannah Shepard asked Ariel Williams "It seems that we have a few too many vessels in-system for the Citadel Fleet milling around over there to be comfortable with…" She gestured toward the display where it showed com chatter among the Citadel Defence Fleet to still be quite high.

Ariel snorted at that "Yeah and one hundred and five out of the 114 said vessels are freighters." Those were more like colony ships, with many tall floors and huge cargo bays. The cargo bays were filled with hull plating and repair equipment, the latter conforming to Citadel tech standards and the former only being rimmed by Citadel-grade plating, the rest being Coalition hull armour. As to be expected from over a millennium of war, it was significantly better than Citadel stuff mass for mass, the rim was for convenience of repairs and welding to hull material already present. Quarters were more dormitory-standard than anything else, with private bathroom stalls and air sterilization gear installed to accommodate the delicate health requirements of the Quarians. The rooms were all stuffed to the brim with supply crates of levo-amino foods and medicines, in addition to replacement parts for every bit of Citadel element zero-based technology they could think of. It had caused a minor ruckus with the Citadel when they nearly drained suppliers all over the station and necessitated pick-ups directly from the companies and their warehouses on Citadel Space planets by the freighters.

The remaining nine ships were 3860 Heavy Cruisers, the best warships available to the Coalition until 3860 Battle Cruisers rolled off the design boards. If it came down to it, they would be severely out-gunned by the Citadel Defence Fleet, but if ACU warfare had anything to say about it, it would be gating directly onto the Citadel and wreaking havoc. At least, that was the contingency plan… If things went as planned, they would make formal First Contact with the Quarians and then transfer the 105 two-kilometre bulk freighters to the Quarians as a gesture of goodwill in the interim while the UEF Senate, Cybran Collective, and Aeon High Council debated which abandoned planets could be offered for settlement. The fleet seemed small, but the fighters that had detached from the Heavy Cruisers upon entering the system were flying CAP around the minimally-escorted fleet while the Freighters held steady, shields and fields up, along with their "minimal" on-board weaponry consisting of eight lines of T1 AA guns, spaced every two hundred meters apart on each line, of the eight primary contour lines of the ship (the cross-section was after all more or less octagonal). They weren't made to ward off more than fighter strikes, but they were never built for battle anyways… and could be converted by entering a Gantry to have buildings and weapons added on the hull anyways for a hodgepodge warship if need be.

(A/N: Think the UNSC warships, esp. the POA from Halo, with vertical sides added between the angled flank parts.)

"The Relay's activating…" One of Ariel's bridge officers called at the same time as someone on Hannah's bridge did. For this mission, the Aeon Grand Crusader and her crew were just here to watch the transaction happen, leaving Hannah to conduct the actual negotiations. The fact that she was there was due to her protesting about having Cybrans do the negotiations. The leaders had debated the issue and hadn't decided to go ahead with the initial plan until a few hours ago, since Rhianne and Brackman had convinced the others that it made the most sense to present themselves directly. They were following the Cybran, Aeon and Seraphim typical policy of full disclosure, but Hall had doubts as to whether or not it would be a good idea to do it for First Contact. Ratheen had also voiced the dangers of a bad first impression, citing the initial contact of humans and Seraphim just before the start of the Infinite War, but Brackman had answered simply "Militarily they are no threat to us, even if they react poorly, we will not need to worry".

"The signature… it's just over fifteen hundred meters long and proportionally sized, definitely a dreadnought." Hannah stated as she put on her helmet, looking at the display.

"Who should hail them?" Ariel stated as everyone put on their helmets.

"I will, it will help when we come to the inevitable Cybran reveal." Hannah sighed before opening the channel "This is Division Commander Hannah Shepard and Grand Crusader Ariel Williams of the Coalition of Species, we are interested in getting to know you more and possibly handing over a few planets suitable for your fleet to consider colonizing."

A Quarian's face, well, visor, appeared on the screen, standing proud and alert "This is Admiral Rael'Zorah of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, your offer sounds… tempting, too tempting, would you mind coming onboard the Alarei to formalize First Contact?"

Hannah nodded "No problem, when should we head over?"

Rael nodded "How about in… one Galactic Standard Hour?"

Hannah nodded "Agreed, our shuttle will leave our ship in time to get there in one hour's time, Hannah Shepard out." She signed off the link once Rael nodded agreement. "James, you're coming with me for this run, John got his first important tour with the Council, you're going to help me handle this contact. Remember, you're part of the Marine escort."

"Alright, Mom, I know what to do, don't talk unless something's going sour…" James nodded simply from his station by the doors into the bridge before he followed his mother out into the Crew Deck, checking his weapon holsters and anchoring points for a full load-out as he followed his mother.

* * *

><p><em>Alarei, Near Citadel, 23 September, 3865<em>

Rael frowned before looking over at the comm. link he had with the other Admirals and the Fleet "I didn't think the humans needed enviro-suits from the reports… by what we know of their psychology, which isn't that far from the Asari psyche, isn't hiding your face a form of deception? I have a bad feeling about this… at least, about this Division Commander…"

Daro'Xen dismissed his concern "Don't worry about it, Rael, personally, I'm more interested in why they have a hundred and five non-warships of capital ship size, most likely freighters, present in the area. Let's just wait until they come… and review the data we have on them."

Exactly one minute before the appointed time Rael looked up from his console to comment to the other Admirals, who had a free comm. link thanks to someone pulling strings with the Citadel (unbeknownst to them it was the fact that someone wired the funds to the Citadel News Network beforehand to use their highest-priority channels for the link-up) "Looks like they're going to be late if they don't get moving soon."

"We're on our way, I hope you have airlocks that we can enter…" Hannah called over a sudden transmission as two smaller contacts separated from two of the nine warships present and barrelled toward the Alarei at accelerations no shuttle should have been able to pull off. "Open one up and mark it with a light if you can… otherwise we'll just look for it directly from out here."

"Open Airlock Five, Port Side, and turn on the lights." Rael ordered, and it was done.

"Thanks, we're on our way." Hannah stated as the Restorer T3 AA Gunship (the shuttle of choice for Coalition officers, but few others knew that, though the name had been broadcast to the galaxy at large by reporters regarding the Council meetings) pulled up alongside the airlock indicated and leant close, forging a connection as it came close enough, after locking onto the hull with grapplers. The airlock cycled a moment later…

Hannah Shepard exited the shuttle after her son—the one that was with her on this tour of duty anyways—and a UEF Marine, clad in the Medium Armour of his faction did. Medium or Light Armour was typical of Psychic-capable or tech-type soldiers, they rarely wore Heavy Armour since it offered less support for their abilities and was more geared toward line-holding firepower. Heavy Armour was also less able to keep up cloaking fields since more power was routed to defences and weaponry. She was followed by four more Marines, two Aeon, one UEF and one Seraphim, equipped with typical Coalition Marine Armour, some were faction-typical and some not, but they worked nonetheless. She growled at her entourage as they tensed somewhat seeing the large reception committee "Stand down all of you," She turned her head to regard the Quarian techs standing around "sorry about that, we're clean, at least, our sterilization fields were fired up to maximum. Scan us if you want to and take your time, we've got time…"

"Don't worry about it, Division Commander, preliminary scans show you're clean anyways, besides, with all our suits on it wouldn't matter even if you took off your helmet." an authoritative male voice stated as Admiral Rael'Zorah of the Migrant Fleet swept into the room.

Hannah nodded in respect "The Coalition of Species will not forget this show of faith. I'll be up front with you then, you must be wondering about what the one hundred and five minimally armed freighters out there are doing… they're gifts of friendship. Each is packed with every bit of dextro medicines, supplies, equipment, ship plating and such that we could get our hands on throughout Citadel Space or built at home with our nanolathes. The armour plating is superior to anything you can get in Council Space, I hope you find it useful… I saw those craters and holes in your outer hull on my way over, I recommend you send over crews to man those ships when possible. If you don't have enough crew, and each ship only requires two or three to run, we'll pilot them directly to your Fleet if need be."

Rael blinked, at least, that's what the filtering software in Hannah's helmet showed, a face whose outline was surprisingly human-like behind the polarized visor, as he processed the news "That is… surprisingly generous."

* * *

><p><em>Live-Ship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, 23 September, 3865<em>

"Ah, that should do it." Tali'Zorah stated happily as she jury-rigged another set of parts into acceptable functionality. "All finished."

"Well if you keep on going at that rate we'll all start getting lazy, Miss Prodigy…" the chief engineering officer chuckled, looking over the re-wired system approvingly. Tali was known for being able to take a solid brick of hull plating and make it work as anything from a missile launcher part to an element zero core moderator. "It'll be a sad… and busy… day when you go off on your Pilgrimage… we'll have to spend a couple days figuring out just HOW you made all this stuff click together."

"Thanks…" Tali nodded gratefully, before being interrupted by a PA announcement.

"All non-critical personnel, please pay attention to the nearest PA monitor for footage of formal First Contact with the Coalition of Species."

The entire Fleet was suddenly abuzz with chatter regarding the same superpower that had aroused gossip for the past several days. They watched the initial proceedings and nearly collectively gasped when the Division Commander the Coalition had sent simply handed over the small fleet of supply ships casually. Tali smirked when she heard her father commenting on the generosity. It was like him to say that…

* * *

><p><em>Alarei, Near Citadel, 23 September, 3865<em>

Hannah shrugged "Well, the factions are busy examining uninhabited planets in our space for ones suitable for you guys. Sadly most of the planets we're looking at are ice worlds, simply because it was either that or one with lots of local life-forms, and we know through Citadel information how dangerous that could prove. But there are a few other things we may have to cover first…"

Rael'Zorah shut his gaping mouth before chuckling, noting the lopsided smirk the Division Commander's helmet lights portrayed "Ah, knew there had to be a catch somewhere."

Hannah laughed quietly at that "Well, it's not really a catch per se… I'm sure you and the rest of the Admiralty Board have many questions…"

"Of course, let's go to a more spacious room to talk, a hallway isn't the best setting for discussion after all…" Rael led the way with a frown on his face "I'd like to ask, why were you so interested in contacting us?"

Hannah sighed "Is the rest of your Admiralty Board listening in?"

Rael rolled his eyes "Knowing them, the whole Migrant Fleet is probably getting the live feed."

Hannah nodded brusquely "We are all too familiar with your plight, the creation of an AI-type race of servants… their uprising… and a long-term war afterward."

"You mean at one point the Coalition of Species also wandered the stars searching for a new home?" The Alarei's captain, who was also present in the group, asked.

"No, I'll tell you the details in a few moments, when we get to the conference place…" Hannah trailed off as they emerged into what seemed to be almost a theatre of sorts, like a small park inside the ship "Interesting use of space…" she commented quietly, looking around. "Alright, we need the camera angles to be just right for this…"

"Don't worry, we have enough camera drones covering this event, so you had an experience similar to what we did with the Geth?" Rael asked.

"Yes, over twelve hundred of our years, the same number of Galactic Standard Years, ago, humanity had used the Quantum Gate Network to spread thousands of light-years. On one of the first colony worlds, Seton, Doctor Gustav Brackman merged computer programs and a human brain for the first time. The subjects were all terminally ill brain disease patients, volunteers, and they had a one hundred percent recovery rate. However, after a few trials of using them for positions requiring large amounts of data processing, years after the first Symbiont was created, an event came to pass that changed our history forever…" Hannah turned her helmet's red eye lights away from Rael as if looking out toward something "Requesting data… downloading to armour computer… This is the most important log in my faction's history other than the end of the Infinite and Seraphim Wars, please understand and remain quiet while I play it. This is following our policy of full disclosure, after all, it would be rude to not give you all the information you might need to decide if allying us is a good idea or not."

"Alright, everybody, do as she says." Rael barked to the crew around them, who immediately fell silent to watch the clip.

A middle-aged man with a few implants visible on his head tapped a young (at least visually) doctor's shoulder and she turned to look at him "Doctor Hale Dana, I have a question."

"Yes, Ivan-431?" The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow as the point of view swung to look at her.

"Do we Symbionts have… souls?"

"Why'd you think of that, 431? And who did you re-learn it from?" The doctor sounded nervous and had turned fully to look at the man.

The man shrugged "I learned it myself, it appears a lot of times in the Christian Bible…"

The doctor shook her head "Only humans have souls, 431, you are a mechanism."

Hannah shut down her holo-projector "The log ends there, that wasn't the first time a Cybran as we call ourselves nowadays asked if we had a soul, but it was the first time an Earth Empire person became alarmed by it. After that, things quickly started going wrong and the Evening War began, ending when Doctor Brackman and his closest Symbionts fled Seton on a ship and eventually founded the Cybran Nation. It was a few decades later that the Infinite War proper began when the Aeon Illuminate rose. The Infinite War would go on for over twelve hundred years… before it ended and the Seraphim War began. During the Seraphim War, the Seraphim Separatists, now the Republic, came to our aid and helped us push back the Seraphim Imperium. We have experience with all sides of your problem. The Aeon know what it is like to want to wipe out 'abominations'" She used air quotes for that "The UEF know what it means to fear one's creations and be beaten back by them… and the Cybrans know what it means to be able to network, to flee, and to run programs in our heads. The Seraphim Republic also has extensive experience in being a fleet of escapees but that's beside the point."

Rael's eyes had narrowed dangerously by now "What do you mean Cybrans as 'we call ourselves nowadays'?"

"Just what it implies, the Cybran Nation is one of the four Major Factions in the Coalition, and it's my homeland, these two are from the Aeon Illuminate, these two are from the United Earth Federation and this guy is from the Seraphim Republic." She pointed to them in turn.

"What exactly does it mean to be a Cybran and what faction is he from?" Rael gestured toward James now.

"It means the ability to fight off most assimilation attempts, processing speed, balanced democracy and meritocracy, a desire to work, innovate, create, and such, and… aesthetically, it means… can I take off my helmet here?"

Rael nodded cautiously, gesturing behind his back for the Marines around to be careful "Certainly."

"Alright, aesthetically it means this." Hannah stated, unsealing and removing her helmet. Her long hair was completely tucked into her collar's back, and those Quarians on her left side gasped and levelled their rifles. Her escort tensed before she growled "Stand down boys, they're just a bit surprised, that's all." She turned to look at Rael with the orange circuitry lines on the left side of her face, lines most Cybrans had as a symbol of pride, glowed softly and her irises twinkled with warm orange light. "A few visible things, but overall not that different from a typical human, as for 'that guy'" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder "He's my son, and usually children follow the mother's factional orientation, James, take off your helmet."

"Yes ma'am." The Marine acknowledged as he removed his helmet and resumed glaring down the tense Quarian soldiers with his brown eyes.

"Because we have had to run ourselves, we were the first to absolutely demand that we contact and do our best to help your people." Hannah was saying, ignoring the levelled guns around her.

"That's not very surprising, I mean, you guys are basically Geth…" Zaal'Koris was muttering from the Admiralty Board's holograms.

Hannah snorted "I resent that statement, we might not be as beautiful as the Aeon or some of the UEF are on average but we are not a bunch of machines! The UEF had enslaved Symbionts serving them for the duration of the Infinite War right up until we freed them, ending the war with the start of the next one… you don't want to know what it means to start a Rift like that, it's too dangerous to tell you if you can't even handle that fact that we fought for our independence WITHOUT destroying the happiness of others!"

"This is Admiral Rael'Zorah to pilot crews dispatched to freighters, return to the Alarei… who knows just what is on those ships…" The man was saying into a speaker as the talks devolved to the Division Commander and the other Admirals and those of the Conclave present hurling barbs at one another.

Hannah's head whipped around faster than expected as she glared the man down "If you don't even have enough faith in us for that… then forget it, I was going to give you guys a list of planets we'd be willing to fork over with basic cities and infrastructure installed already but I had express orders that if talks broke down we would back off immediately. You can send crews to search through the entire cargos of those freighters, and I'm telling you that there are no dangerous materials onboard unless you count a metal plate to be dangerous… other than the Element Zero cores we built into them."

* * *

><p><em>Live-Ship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, 23 September, 3865<em>

A subdued air settled over the Fleet as they watched the talks start breaking down. Sure there had been gasps of horror and angry shouts when the woman had first revealed that their super-powerful galactic faction counted a semi-AI race as one of the strongest members, but that had settled into an air of morbid fascination. Already some arguments had begun between those who thought the Admirals had reacted a bit too strongly and those who thought it was normal for them to react the way they did.

Tali'Zorah, on the other hand, was frowning behind her steel-grey tinted visor as she watched the black-haired woman's every action and her son. Something seemed oddly, overwhelmingly familiar about them, the way they held themselves, the voices they spoke in, their presence… something was eerily familiar about those two, especially the young man, who looked to be about her age or a little older. It was as if she knew them or something…

* * *

><p><em>Alarei, Near Citadel, 23 September, 3865<em>

Hannah was on the verge of reaching critical mass "If you don't want our help, forget it, the freighters and their supplies are yours, but you'll have to contact us if you want that list of available planets or if you want military support. Originally we would have offered a treaty with Minor Faction Status attached, but… forget it, with that sort of reaction, let me tell you guys just a few things before we leave." She turned and began walking back the way she had come "The Aeon mostly feel guilty over the Cybran thing during the Infinite War and most of the UEF were appalled when the news went out about just how the Symbionts they enslaved where used. The Seraphim Republic is very close to the Cybrans since most of their planets were turned over to them by us from our stake-outs of the galaxy. If you absolutely HATE Cybrans like you're showing, then we… the Network's currently-online members mostly vote for still giving you some planets to settle with pre-built cities and standard public transport protocols and so on, but most refuse to offer Minor Faction Status to you anymore." She wasn't about to tell them they were only willing to offer Protectorate Status now, it was degrading… and she might be able to wrangle them into Minor Faction status with enough reasoning and persuasion…

Rael shook his head as he snapped out of shock "I'm sorry for how my colleagues and I reacted, but…"

"I can understand your viewpoint, but, and I've stopped uploading by this point, I have a bad feeling about this…" Hannah put her helmet back on, the lights showing her grimace.

"A bad feeling? What sort of bad feeling?"

Hannah sighed "We originally decided collectively to contact you guys first since you guys needed help and we were able to help you. Now, I have a feeling a lot of us will be considering going to talk to the Geth and find out about their viewpoints on your conflict."

"Marines, STAND DOWN!" Rael barked as he felt the soldiers tense around them. Then he looked at the red eye lights of the Division Commander for some time. "That's very unfortunate to hear."

Hannah waved him off "Don't worry, I'll do my best to dissuade them, being the one who ended the Infinite War and participated in the climatic battle of the Seraphim War gives your opinion a lot of oomph even if your age doesn't give that much weight to your vote in the Nation. I hope that the next time we talk it will be under better circumstances, Admiral Rael'Zorah."

* * *

><p><em>Live-Ship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, 23 September, 3865<em>

"That was very… interesting." Someone beside her murmured as the crowds scattered to go back to work, and Tali had to resist the urge to facepalm at the obviousness as she thought back to those two very familiar people.

When her shift was over, Tali found herself wandering listlessly, distractedly, back to her bunk. _Why is this happening to me? Why can't I stop thinking about those two?_ She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head vigorously before opening them again and sighing, it didn't work. _Oh well, time to sleep, got more work tomorrow._

Tali dropped in on an odd sight, a woman who looked like herself but with five fingers and five toes, typical of Asari or, the newest additions to the galactic landscape, humans, hovered a little off the ground as she charged a dark purple ball of energy over her right hand. Then she fired it downrange at a giant mountain of ice, blasting it apart in a single strike before firing more energy, this time a cool blue beam with double-helical coils around it, rebuilding the target effortlessly. Once she finished gaping at the other woman's strange abilities as she continued shooting targets at extreme range (Tali didn't take long to notice that the target was a long, LONG way off, about a kilometre away) and scoring bulls-eyes, Tali noted the woman's attire. She was wearing a white and pale blue robe of some sort (a human would term it a kimono) with an orange belt and tie at the back, and a headdress decorated with several gems and exposing her light purple skin. The woman went barefoot, despite the snow falling slowly around her.

"Hey Tali, keeping your skills frosty?" A very familiar voice said, a certain Quarian's head whipping back and forth, gaping at the other woman who looked like herself the last time she looked in a mirror, and the young man she'd seen at the meeting with her father.

The woman, who Tali suddenly noted had a much larger bust and seemed older than she herself currently was, smirked as she removed her headdress, the teal-coloured hair another rude shock to the Quarian who was standing in on the strange encounter "Yeah, with how warm we typically are," she included a wink there "I need to actually practice to keep my Ice Beam skills up, it's unlike how things used to be, but I have no complaints."

The man gave a lopsided smile before sweeping the woman off her feet "That's good… Tali, that's cheating." He muttered as she seemed to gain a tint of transparency as she hovered behind the man, phasing right through him to do so.

"No it's not, you know I'm half Ghost-Type so you should have expected this sort of thing. Anyways, what do those two want with me this time?"

The man shrugged "Well they just dropped in for a visit, nothing much…"

"Great, let's get inside, you'll get cold out here. You spend enough of your time cold as is." She solidified and looked back over her shoulder to find the man right behind her, his breath going down her neck.

Tali watched from her perspective with morbid fascination as this older woman shivered a little when the man kissed the side of her neck "For the record you're not very cold unless you're using your powers."

That was when the very weird dream ended with Tali waking up back in her bunk, suddenly scratching the side of her neck, was that her future? It didn't sound likely, perhaps somewhere in the past? It sounded ridiculous, a fantasy, but it had seemed so familiar… perhaps it was why she seemed to know the man from somewhere. Still, nothing she could do about it now. Back to sleep for now… Her last thought before drifting off again was: _What in Keelah's name is Ice Beam and how would it work?_

* * *

><p>"I TOLD you full disclosure was dumb!" Ariel Williams muttered at the conference.<p>

"Well it was better than getting a bad rep with the other galactic powers for trickery, if they force our hand…" Hannah trialed off.

"The Coalition needs external powers to balance its existence, we already had the Independent Colonies problem, we wouldn't last thirty more years without external counterweights." Seth-Thauum finished for her.

Elite Commander Dostya nodded "Exactly my point, we need to remain amicable with the rest of the Galaxy's major powers. 'Tricking' the Quarians into their salvation won't earn us any points."

Hackett nodded "Let's just hope everything works out for the better…" he murmured.

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><p>AN: Sorry this took so long.

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